Punching machine



April 7, 1959 H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE l7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 mu m m K V w m, M R E H April 7, 1959 H. J. KLOTZ 2,880,800

PUNCHING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 2 'IN V EN TOR. HERMAN J. KLOTZ AGEN TMIL

April 7, 1959 Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. HERMAN J. KLOTZ AGENT April 7, 1959 Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. HERMAN J. KLOTZ H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE April 7, 1959 Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 l7 Sheets-Sheet H mm. E J VN N A I. M R E H AGENT April 7, 1959 H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. HERMAN J. KLOTZ BY W April 7, 1959 Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet '7 F 'IG. 1 J.

INVENTOR.

HERMAN J. KLOTZ haw AGENT l7 Sheets-Sheet 8 Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 INVENTOR. HERMAN J KLOTZ AGENT April 7, 1959 H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 9 FIG. .14.

'FIG- 13.

INVENTOR, I HERMAN J. KLOTZ April 7, 1959 H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 27, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 10 o o to o o o o o o o o o o o 0 L o o 120 O 2 o o 1 0 O o o m o o H 5 K0 0 o o o v o o o o o o o o V7421 FIG- 1.6.

K C E H C NUMBER FIG? 15- INVENTOR. HERMAN J. KLQTZ AGENT April 7, 1959 H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 11 Origina INVENTOR.

AGENT 1 Filed Aug. 27, 1953 HERMAN J. KLOTZ JIIIWII April 7, 1959 H. J. KLOTZ PUNCHING MACHINE Original Filed .Aug. 27, 1953 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 12 INVENTQR. HERMAN J.' Kgio-rz AGENT April 7,1959

Original Filed Aug. 2'7, 1953 TICKET READING RELAY COLUMN FIG. .19-

17 Sheets-Sheet 13 IN V EN TOR.

9 HERMAN J. KLOTZ AGENT April 7; 1959 H. .J. KLOTZ PUNCHiNG MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet l6 oi inal Fi led Aug. 27, 1953 QUE NOE INVEN TOR. HERMAN J. KLOTZ AGENT 2,880,800 I Jahptonted Ap 7 1 59.

United s tates Patent o fiCfi PUNCHING MACHINE Herman I. Klotz, Endicott, N.Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Original application August 27, 1953, Serial No. 376,929, now Patent No. 2,789,819, dated April 23, 1957. Digglfggzind this application June 14, 1956, Serial No.

3 Claims. (Cl. 164-115) This invention relates generally to record making devices and more specifically to a punched card reproducer operated under control of a punched document.

This application is a division of the application in the name of H. J. Klotz, Serial No. 376,929, filed August 27, 1953, now Patent No. 2,789,819. In the present application, the disclosure and claims are directed to the improved combination of a ticket feeding and sensing device and a record card punching machine.

The invention is illustrated in connection with mer-' chandise control Work in which a relatively small price tag stub is prepunched with basic mechandise information and forms the original document which is sensed to control the perforation of standard IBM type accounting machine cards. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a device which will accept the tag stubs and convert them into the standard control records. v

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel ticket feeding and sensing device and record card punching machine combination wherein in a single machine cycle a ticket'is fed out of the hopper, sensed and ejected into a stacker while the corresponding record card which is to be punched is fed only to the entrance of the punch mechanism. In prior art punching machines the master cards and detail cards feed along in synchronism each taking about four machine cycles to feed through the machine for reproducing and gang punching. In the present combination, each ticket is reproduced on the cycle after it has ejected. This is advantageous in applications where the reproduced card is checked at the punch brushes and the machine stopped when an error occurs because when the error is detected at the punch brushes the ticket in question will already have been ejected into the stacker. Consequently, thernachine can. be immediately restarted without having to search for and remove the ticket in question from some .part vof the feed mechanism proper.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel feed mechanism for feeding the ticket stubs to the reproducing machine.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a novel arrangement for stacking said stubs in a feed hopper with means for offsetting the bottommost stu'b so that the registration holes therein may be properly positioned for feeding of the stub to the reproducer sensing mechanism.

A further obpect of the invention is to provide a novel pin feeding mechanism for engaging the registration holes in each stub as the stub is offset from the remainder of the stack and to successively feed the stubs to the sensing mechanism.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved sensing mechanism which is conveniently attached to the stub feeding mechanism and which is adapted to statically sense small code holes pierced in the ticket stubs.

. consistent two out of five code having bit values of Still another object of the present invention is to provide the reproducer with a simple translator circuit for converting the code punchings on the ticket stubs into a standard control record code. In the present embodiment the code used on the price tags is a five element,

1, 2, 4, 7 and check.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. .1 is a side elevation view of the ticket stub feeding and sensing devices shown attached to the frame of the reproducing machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a' side elevation taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the driving connections between the ticket stub feeding and sensing devices and the reproducing machine. The side frame of the machine has been removed for clarity.

Fig. 4 is a plan view in partial section with the sensing device removed.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4 showing various cam drive connections.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the components of the skid roll drive mechanism and the eject mechanism along with a partial showing of the sliding block pin feed mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the card lever mechanism for controlling operation of the pin feed device.

Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the relationship between the bottom two tickets in the ticket magazine prior to feeding.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view showing a sectional view of the pin feed slide assembly.

Fig. 10 is a plan view part in section taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a front elevation view of the pin feed slide assembly taken on line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on line 12-12 of Fig. 2 showing the construction of the sensing device.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the ticket feed magazine.

Fig. 14 is atiming chart.

Fig. 15 is a chart showing the code used for the information punched in the tickets.

Fig. 16 is a view of a perforated and preprinted ticket and ticket stub.

Fig. 17 is a side elevation of the reproducing punc Fig. 18 is a sectional elevation. view of the'reproduc- Price tag Referring to Fig. 16, there may be seen a typical merchandise tag consisting of a ticket portion T and a stub portion S. Both the ticket and the stub are proportioned with a plurality of punched information index point positions there being 24 vertical columns of 5 punching positions each along with a 25th column of 2 punching positions. There are, then, a possible 122 index point positions, such as indicated at H, at which information may be prepunched into the ticket or the stub.

Arranged horizontally across the top of the ticket and" the stub is printed information relating to the size and price of the particular article to which the tag will be attached. Columns 10 through 12 are --,reserved for punchings relating to the size of the articleand columns 20 through 24 for punchings relating to the price. The word size preceding the'size field and the dollar sign and the decimal point shown in the price field would be preprinted on the tag by the tag manufacturer. All of the punchings and remaining printed matter is put on the tag by a tag marking machine prior to attaching the tag to the merchandise. The tag marking machine forms no part of the present invention and hence will not be described.

Across the bottom of the ticket and the stub is a horizontal row of printed coded information relating to such items as manufacturer, color, style, etc. The printing is offset vertically into actually two rows to indicate the different fields of information. The punchings in columns 1 through 9 and 14 through 19 relate to said bottom rows of printed information, this information being printed also by the tag marking machine prior to attaching the tag to the article.

The two punchings indicated as H in column 25 are control punchings used to control the operation of the punching machine in a manner to be described.

The code used for punching the necessary information into the ticket and the stub is shown in Fig. 15. The code used isa-well-known element, consistent 2 out of 5 code having the bit values of 1, 2, 4, 7 and check. As Will be understood later, the columns on the tag which, in the illustrative example, are to be reproduced on an IBM card (columns 1 through 24) must have 2 and only 2 punchings in each column in order to carry out the reproducing operation.

The tag marking machine in addition to putting the above-described information on the tag also prepunches a series ofthree feed' registration holes indicated at F and F on the ticket and stub shown in Fig. 16. As will be described, the registration hole F serves to position the stub in the feed hopper and to aid in properly feeding the stub out of the hopper. The registration holes F are used to feed the stub to the sensing mechanism where the punchings H and H are sensed to control the reproducing machine. In addition to the registration holes there is also prepunched in each ticket a hole indicated at A on Fig. 16. The hole A is used to attach the tag to the article of merchandise by means of a string or the like.

Each stub has a semicircular notch N cut at one end which is used to aid the clerks in stacking the stubs as the merchandise is sold. At each sales station there is a stacker box into Which the tag stubs are placed as the sales are made. The stubs are detached from the tag and the ticket portion remains withthe article and serves as the customers record of sale. Each stacker boxv is provided with a suitable guide bar which intercepts the notch N inthestubs and insures that the stubs will be properly stacked for use in the feed hopper of the ticket stub feeding device. As will be presently understood the ticket stub feeding device and sensing mechanism is attached to the read side of the well-known IBM reproducing punch and during the converting operation actually functions in place of the read unit of the machine.

Before describing the application of the novel ticket stub feeding device and sensing mechanism to the reproducing punch it is thought advisable to briefly describe the construction and operation of the standard punching machine illustrated in the embodiment of the present invention.

Punching machine The high-speed reproducing punching machine is constructed according to the principles set forth in Patent Re. 21,133 issued to C. D. Lake on June 27, 1939, and is shown in Figs. 17 and 18. Reference may be had to this patent for a full and comprehensive understanding of the various machineparts.andfunbtiohs thereof, as

4 well as of the operation of the device as a whole. Briefly, however, and for the purpose-of illustration, duringnormal operation of the machinea number of master cards 10 (Fig. 18) are contained in a'hopper R and an additional group of blank record or detail cards 11 are contained in a hopper P. The cards are-fed-singly and concurrently from both hoppers and are then shiftedin synchronism through sensing and punching stations before being deposited in stackerslz and 13.

Upon leaving the hopperR, each master card 10 first encounters a master sensing brush 14, then a line of sensing brushes 15, and finally a series of checking brushes 16. The detail cards 11 upon leaving the hopper P each pass a master sensing brush 17, then a line'of punches 18 and finally a set of checking brushes 19. The brush 14 cooperates with aspecial perforation in the original or master card 10 and when such a perforation is sensed a class selection operation maytake place to shift the sensed data to a selected field on the record ordetail card. The brush 17 is used for field selection of gauigpunching and also for control of suspension of master card feeding when the machine is conditioned for combined gang punching and reproducing.

Electrical connections exist between the line of brushes 15 and the line of punches 18 so thatwhen a perforation is sensed in a master card 10, a perforation is punched in the related detail card 11 in a corresponding position. After the cards have passedjthe'first'sensing and punching stations respectively, they enter separate checking stations. In these stations the master cardlt) is sensed by the checking brushes 16 at the same time that the related detail card is sensed by the checking brushes 19. If the perforations in both cards donot agree, the machine is stopped and a lamp or other signalindicates the error.

Referring now to Figs. 17 and 18 wherein the driving connections of the machine are shown, a motor M is mounted above the base 20 of the machine which also carries a pair of main side frames 21. The motor is connected by a driving belt'23 to a pulley 24 on a shaft 25 suitably mounted in bearings in'the' frames 21. Fixed to the shaft 25 is a gear 26 whichv serves to drive all of the continuously running instrumentalities of the machine. Suitable gearing designated in'its entirety at 30 extends between the driving gear 26 and a relatively large punch clutch driving gear 27 which is pivoted on a punch feed drive shaft 31 and attached to another driving gear 32. Gear connections are provided between the punch clutch under the hopperP and another clutch under the hopper R so that cards may be fed in synchronism from both hoppers. The gear 32 meshes with another gear 33 pivoted as at 34. This gear 33 in turn meshes with a similar gear 35 pivoted as at 36. The gear 35 meshes with a reproducer clutch driving gear-37 mounted on a shaft 38. The gear 37 meshes with a gear 39 secured to a shaft 40 and thus this lattershaft is given a continuous movement. It serves 'as a mounting for a number of cams cooperating with a series of'cam contacts C1, C2, "etc.,- hereinafter referred to, 'andjalso as a mounting' for an impulse distributor-wheel 28 shown in Fig. 20b and which constitutes an actuating device for a pair of contacts C11, the function of which will be set forth fully hereinafter.

The gear 37 (Fig. 17) has secured thereto a clutch disc 42 provided with a notch 44. Cooperting with the notch 44 is a pawl 46 mounted on an arm 48 attached to the shaft 38. One end of the pawl is engaged by an armature latch '50 and the-other end of the pawl is formed with an extension 52 adapted to fall into the notch 44.

' A suitable spring (not'shown) normally holds the armature latch 50 in engagement with-thepawl 46, but when an associated magnet RCM is energized the latch is moved away from the pawl, thus connecting the shaft 38 to the driving gear 37. Shaft 38 carries a series of cams by means of which cam contacts R1, R2 are operated.

The shaft 38 is provided with an eccentric 56 (Fig.- 18) for operating card feed picker slides 58. Encircling the eccentric is a strap 60 which receives a reciprocating motion for each rotation of the shaft 38. The strap 60 is formed with an ear pivotally attached to an arm 62 which also carries a pair of gear sectors 64. The sectors 64 mesh with racks 65 provided on the bottom of the picker slides 58 and form a driving connection therewith. The slides 58 carry a projecting picker knife 66 which is adapted to engage the bottom card in the hopper R. It is apparent from the above-described connections for the reproducer clutch that when the magnet RCM is energized the picker knife 66 is moved to the right, thus bringing the bottom master card in the hopper R into cooperation with a pair of feeding rollers 68 and 70. Such a feeding action occurs during each cycle of operation when the machine is employed for straight reproducing.

The feeding rollers 68 and 70 are driven by a gear 72 (Fig. 17) mounted on the shaft 38 and in mesh with a gear 74 carried on the roller 68. A smaller gear 76 on the roller 68 cooperates with a similar gear 78 on the roller 70 so that both rollers are turned simultaneously but oppositely. The rollers 68 and 70 extend across the machine between the side frames 21 and the roller 68 is slotted at various column positions to permit proper placement of the master brush 14 in any desired position. These rollers, when turning, draw a card from beneath the hopper R and feed it to the left between the brushes 14 and and over into other feeding rollers 80 and 82.

A contact roller 84 is associated with the brushes 15 and is driven by gear connections from the feed roller 68, the gear 76 on the roller 68 meshing with an idler gear 86 which, in turn, meshes with a gear 88 on the contact roller 84.

- The punch clutch under the hopper P is operated when connections are established between the punch feed drive shaft 31 and the punch clutch driving gear 27. Attached to the gears 27 and 32 is a notched disc 90 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 31. Adjacent the disc 90 is an arm 92 fixed to the shaft 31 and carrying a clutch pawl 94 which is pivoted thereon. The pawl has an extension adapted to fit into the notch in the disc 90 and is normally urged into engagement with the disc by a suitable spring (not shown). However, the pawl is held disengaged by an armature latch 98 which engages an extending arm on the pawl. When the punch clutch magnet PCM is energized, the associated armature is attracted and the latch 98 is rocked to the left about a pivot 100, thus releasing the pawl 94 and connecting the shaft 31 to the driving gears.

Whenthe shaft 31 is operated, certain driving connections are rendered operative to actuate a card picker mechanism under the hopper P, which is similar to the previously described card picker mechanism under the hopper R and which is generally designated by the reference character 102. Additionally, a driving connection exists between the shaft 31 and the checking station feed rollers. A third driving connection exists between the shaft 31 and operates to release a clutch connection in a Geneva gear drive whereby intermittent motion of the card is brought about as previously described. These driving connections are not fully disclosed in the accompanying drawings, but reference may be had to the patent previously mentioned for a full disclosure thereof.

A gear 104 mounted on the shaft 31 meshes with a gear 106 mounted on the same stub 34 with the gear 33. The gear 106 meshes with a gear 108 attached to a feed roller 110. Another gear 112 on the feed roller 110 meshes with a gear 114 attached to a shaft 116 which carries a series of cams by means of which the cam contacts P1, P2, P3, etc., are operated. The gear 114 meshes with a gear 118 attached to the, feed roller 80 which also carries a small gear 120 in mesh with asimilat gear 122 on the associated roller 82. Asmall gear 124 on the'rolle'r drives a similar gear 126 on an associated roller 111. An idler gear 128 meshes with the gear and drives a contact roller 130 through a gear 132 mounted thereon. Another idler gear 134 meshes with the gear 124 and serves to drive a pinion 136 mounted on a card deflecting eject roller 138.

' A plurality of punch feeding rollers 140, 142, 144 and 146 are suitably geared and are driven from the driving gear 26 for feeding cards under the punch plungers 18. Suitable connections also extend from the gear 26 to the Geneva drive, previously referred to, for applying intermittent movement to the cards passing through the punching station. These driving connections are fully disclosed in the previously mentioned patent.

The connection just referred to for the Geneva drive,

mechanism includes a clutch between the Geneva gear wheel proper and the feed rollers so that feeding may be prevented when cards are not to be punched. The clutch mechanism is so designed that if the magnet PCM is not energized there is no driving connection to the Geneva wheel arrangement, and if this latter magnet is energized the usual driving connection is existent. A gear 148 meshes with two gears 150 and 152 on the feed rollers 140 and 144, respectively. An idler gear 154 between the gear 152 and another gear 156 forms the driving connections over to a feed roller 158 on which the gear 156 is mounted. A small gear 160 on the roller 140 cooperates with a similar gear 162 on the roller 142. The same sort of gear connection is made between a pair of gears 164 and 166 on the rollers 144 and 146 and between gears 168 and 170 on the roller 158 and its associated roller 159.

An idler gear 172 connects the gear 164 to a gear 174 on a contact roller 176. Another idler gear 178-meshes the gear 168 and a pinion 180 attached to a card reject roller 182. In the operation of the perforating machine, when a group of master cards 10 are placed in the hopper R, the bottom card depresses a hopper contact lever RHL closing the associated contacts RHC of Fig. 20a. Subsequently, when the picker mechnism is operated the bottom card alone is forced through the throat 184 and placed between the feed rollers 68 and 70 which feed the card along the machine.

Upon entering the sensing station, the card engages and operates a card lever RCLI. At the same time the card passes between the brush 14 and a contact plate 186. From there the card passes between the brushes 15 and the contact roller 84, and at the same time operates a card lever RCL2. Common contact brushes 188 carry the sensing current to the roller 84. The brushes 15 are arranged in a single line.

The card passes on to the feed rollers 80 and 82, which feed it between a pair of guide plates 190 and 192. A card lever CHCL is operated as the card passes between the checking brushes 16 and contact roller 130. After leaving the brushes 16, the card is engaged by therollers 110 and 111 which serve to eject the card to the stacker 12 wherein the cards are supported on the top of a depressible spring plunger 194.

The brush 14 is adjustable along the length of the card in order that it may cooperate with any column therein.

The detail cards 11 and any master cards 10 which may be placed in the hopper P follow a course through punching and sensing stations before being deposited in the stacker 13. The cards in this hopper depress the hopper contact lever PHL and close the associated contacts PHC (Fig. 20a). Upon operation of the picker mechanism 102, the bottom card passes through a throat and is placed between the feed rollers 140 and 142 which feed the card along between the brush 17 and contact bar 196. As the card passes, it operates a card lever DCL. The brush 17 is adjustable in the same manner as the brush 14. After leaving the master card" 

